


Against the Tide[Under this crushing Wave]

by Maewn



Series: Beyond the reaches of Sea, Sky and Stars [10]
Category: The Dragon Prince (Cartoon)
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-19
Updated: 2020-07-19
Packaged: 2021-03-04 18:41:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,036
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25391062
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Maewn/pseuds/Maewn
Summary: The tide shifts around her, a current that speaks to Sunfire magic; someone is wading out to her.Elleth tilts her head back, watching upside-down as a figure approaches.“It’s rare that you come to see me,” Elleth says.OR, a talk from one Archmage to another.
Relationships: Original Female Character/Original Female Character
Series: Beyond the reaches of Sea, Sky and Stars [10]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1283243
Comments: 3
Kudos: 34





	Against the Tide[Under this crushing Wave]

The sea is cool tonight, Elleth muses, floating on her back, watching the stars twinkle above her in the dark sky.

This close to Xadia, the waters won’t freeze when the air turns frigid in winter.

Many Tide-bound elves hibernate in the deep recesses underwater, coming up only when the warm currents return.

Right now though, it is relatively comfortable and Elleth can muse in peace.

She’d awoken from her dreaming earlier by a twinge of against the wards she had set so long ago. Aaravos was still alive, still prodding at his prison, trying to find a way back to the world that had exiled him.

He’d managed to set off one of the back-up wards years ago, Elleth remembers, though he had survived the backlash to try again, it seems.

She wonders, not for the first time, if the darkness has consumed him, driven him mad at long last.

But the touch against her wards hadn’t a trace of dark magic to them, as if the darkness had never touched the caster at all.

_Could they have been deceived?_

The tide shifts around her, a current that speaks to Sunfire magic; someone is wading out to her.

Elleth tilts her head back, watching upside-down as a figure approaches.

“It’s rare that you come to see me,” Elleth says.

Canna shrugs, looking away.

“Can I...just...would you let me drift here for a while?” Canna says, almost mumbling the words, twisting her hands together in an unusual sign of outward distress.

Elleth smiles, shifts around so she can see the other Archmage better. “Of course,” she says.

Canna turns around, facing the shoreline and lets herself fall backwards into Elleth’s waiting arms.

It’s no trouble at all to support her weight and Elleth allows her magic to buoy them, drifting with the current.

Canna trusts so few people, and Elleth is honored to be one of them.

“What distresses you so, my dear?” Elleth says, watching the moon rising high.

“I think...” Canna starts, then stops, trying to find the words she wants to say.

Elleth waits, idly running one hand through Canna’s dark red hair. She is nothing if not patient.

“I freed Ladwyr,” Canna says abruptly. “And she...I think...she’s just _gone.”_

Elleth blinks, surprised.

“You freed her?” she asks.

“She’s been punished enough,” Canna says, an edge of tears in her voice. “Not that it matters much now.”

“Canna,” Elleth says softly.

“She’s a living ghost, _mon c_ _œ_ _ur!”_ Canna says despairingly, “ _I did that to her!_ I thought I was _right!”_

Elleth settles her magic about them, making the water beneath as firm as solid ground, pushing herself upright.

Canna flails briefly at the change before regaining her balance.

Elleth grips Canna’s shoulders, looking squarely into her bright eyes.

“We all did what we thought was right,” Elleth says, “we _all_ bear the blame.”

“Well, except Samos,” Canna mutters. “They were arguing against it the entire time, refusing to assist in such a-a travesty.”

Elleth closes her eyes against the memory of Samos’s voice raised in anger, their magic lashing the wind into a frenzy before they had been brought down by the council. Their screams of anguish as Ladwyr had been made into a living ghost.

One would have thought that Samos had loved Ladwyr, Elleth thought sadly.

It seemed that all Archmages loved just as fiercely as any other, though all of them have been scarred by tragedy.

Ladwyr, Aaravos, Samos, even Canna herself.

Only Phyris, before their death, had been aloof of it all, showing no interest in any elf that approached them in courtship. The position of Archmage among the Earth-blooded elves, even now, remained empty. No one had arisen to reclaim the power there, and so at each council meeting the seat remained empty save for a bouquet of white lilies that was replaced every so often.

Elleth wonders if the rumors of humanity massing against elvenkind will spur a new ascension of Archmage to stand against the rising threat.

“I just-” Canna says, before her voice breaks into gasping sobs.

Elleth pulls her close, hearing the quiet clack of Canna’s courting beads against her own as the other Archmage clings to her.

Ten years they’ve been quietly courting; for all of Canna’s bluster and brawn, she was rather hesitant in any affections.

“You’re safe here, _tesoro,”_ Elleth murmurs, stroking her hair, “I am here.”

Elleth can see movement about ten feet from where they are sitting, another Tide-bound elf coming to the surface to see what was going on.

Elleth sends out a quick flicker of magic, asking for privacy and the other elf acknowledges and vanishes into the depths.

It’s far past midnight, the moon dropping low in the sky before Canna lifts her head from Elleth’s shoulder.

There are tear-stains dried on her cheeks, but her eyes are clear.

“Can I stay the night?” she asks.

“Of course, _cara,”_ Elleth replies, weaving her magic around them, forming an air bubble, before plunging them beneath the waves.

Elleth lives near Celedrine’s Temple, and as she guides her bubble past, she can see the priestesses and acolytes drifting through its pillared halls, going about their sacred duties even this late at night.

Elleth’s home is small, one of the many underwater caves that dot the landscape, but it is still comfortable, magic allowing air to exist within its confines.

Not all who visit her can breathe water after all.

Canna sighs as they enter, rubbing at her eyes.

“ _Je_ _suis_ _désolé, chérie,_ _”_ Canna mutters, “I know I’m a mess.”

“It’s alright,” Elleth says soothingly, “come, to bed with you. It is late enough. We will speak more in the morning.”

“ _D’accord,_ _”_ Canna says, stripping off her armor, setting it aside and crawling underneath Elleth’s blankets. She’s almost hidden under them, but one dark hand pats the bed, motioning for Elleth to join her.

Elleth does so, making sure that her wards are set and changing her robes before she tugs the other side of the blankets up to her waist, finding Canna’s hand and gripping it tight.

“Love you,” Canna mumbles.

“Love you too,” Elleth replies, kissing her forehead. “Sleep well.”


End file.
